Treatment of filaments, yarns, or threads



Oct. 3, 1933. I w. I. TAYLOR I TREATMENT OF FILAMENTS, YARNS, OH THREADS Filed Dec. 12, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 3 FIG.1- 1 1543 78 WILLIAM F TAYLOR Oct. 3, '1933.

w. TAYLOR 1,929,192

TREATMENT OF FILAMENTS, YARNS, OR THREADS Filed Dec. 12, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet Fl G -5- WILUAM I- TAYLBR INVEN'TUR w ll/M ATTQR NEYS Patented Oct. 3, 1933 UNITED STATES TREATMENT or FILAMENTS, YARNS, 0B THREADS William Ivan Taylor, Spondon, near Derby, England, assignor to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application December 12, 1929, Serial No.

413,501, and in Great Britain December 20,

2 Claims.

This invention relates to the treatment of textile filaments, yarns, or threads, and more particularly to the application of sizes or other dressing to such materials.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus whereby sizes or other dressings may be applied to continuous lengths of filaments, yarns or threads.

According to the invention, the filaments, yarns or threads (hereafter referred to as threads) are brought while travelling from one point to another into contact with an absorbent material supplied with a size or other dressing which is heated to bring it into such condition that the absorbent material is fed by capillary action, and the part of the absorbent material making contact with the threads is continuously or intermittently changed.

The changing of the point of contact of' the absorbent material with the threads continually exposes a fresh part of the absorbent material to the threads, and by avoiding contact of the threads with solidified or partly solidified dressing which has cooled on the absorbent material avoids the threads cutting a channel through the dressing and the resultant lack of uniformity in the coating of the dressing.

The absorbent material is conveniently supported or carried by a rotatable drum and caused to dip into a bath of size or other dressing, which is drawn through the absorbent material by capillary action to the point at which the travelling filaments, yarns, or threads make contact with the absorbent material and are coated with the dressing. The absorbent material may take the form of a band, web, or wick fitted round the circumference of the drum or of a plurality of bands, webs or wicks positioned at required intervals along the length of the drum, or substantially the whole length of the drum may be provided with a cover of absorbent. material. It is not essential, however, that a rotatable drum be employed as a support for the absorbent material as above described, since an endless or other band, web, or wick may be otherwise supported so as to receive and apply the size or other dressmg.

Rotation of the drum or travel of the band of absorbent material through the bath causes dressing which has cooled on the absorbent material to be re-heated so that the dressing is always in a uniform condition at the point of application to the threads. The invention is particularly useful for applying sizes of waxes or wax mixtures which require to be melted and must not be allowed to cool because of the danger or clogging the absorbent material and the cutting of channels by the threads.

The threads may be coated or dressed individually or several threads may be treated simultaneously, as by the employment of a plurality of bands, webs, or wicks on an elongated drum or of a drum with a complete covering of absorbent material. By means of a completely covered drum or other device, threads 'may be coated or dressed in the form of a warp.

The treatment according to the invention may be effected while the threads are being submitted to a bobbin-to-bobbin, hank-to-bobbin, beaming, or other winding operation, or during the course of their production, e. g. in the course of the production of filaments or threads of cellulose acetate or other derivatives of cellulose by the dry or evaporative method.

Movement of the absorbent material to change its point of contact with the threads may be effected in any suitable way. For instance, the drum or other device carrying or supporting the absorbent material may be driven by means of ratchet, worm, or other gearing from the winding mechanism employed to wind or reel the treated threads, a slow movement of the absorbent material being conveniently obtained from the traversing mechanism of cap-spinning, pirnbuilding, or other winding devices.

The amount of size or other dressing applied to the threads may be varied by using different absorbent materials, examples of suitable materials being cotton lamp wick, cotton canvas, cotton belting, madapolam, twill sheeting, cotton velveteen, winceyette, and nainbetter. Adjustment 'of the amount may also be effected by varying the speed of the threads, their are of contact with the absorbent material and their pressure on said material. Thus, one or more thread guides, rods, or rollers may be suitably positioned with respect to the coating device so that the arc of contact, and, if desired, the pressure of the threads on the absorbent material, are increased.

Any suitable means may be provided to heat the size or other dressing to be applied to any desired temperature, which in the case of wax or the like is that required to bring the wax or the like into a molten condition to enable it to be withdrawn from the trough by the capillary action of the absorbent material and applied uniformly in liquid condition to the threads.

The rotatable drum or other support for the absorbent material may also be heated.

According to a preferred embodiment of the winding or other packaging device.

invention, the coating device comprises a trough containing the size or other dressing and a rotatable roller or drum provided with one or more circumferential bands, wicks, or webs or with a covering of absorbent material, means being provided to rotate the roller or drum continuously or intermittently. The thread or threads to be treated are guided into contact with the absorbent material and receive a coating of the size or other dressing while proceeding to a A pipe for the passage of steam, hot water, or other heating fluid passes through or is arranged in proximity to the trough for the purpose of heating or melting the dressing.

When applied to the treatment of filaments or threads of cellulose acetate or other cellulose derivatives or of viscose, nitrocellulose, cuprammonium or other artificial silks in the course of their production either by the dry or evaporative method or by the wet or coagulation method the coating device is preferably arranged to intercept the filaments or threads as they proceed from a feed roller or drum which receives them as they emerge from the spinning cell or bath. A thread guide, rod, or roller may be arranged between the feed roller and the coating device to increase the arc of contact of the filaments or threads with the absorbent material. The drum of the coating device is driven by ratchet or other gearing from any suitable part of a winding or twisting or winding device which receives the treated filaments or threads, for instance, from the traversing bar of a cap-spinning device.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, but it is to be understood that the following description is given by way of example only and is not in any way limitative.

Referring .to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a preferred form of apparatus, parts being broken away for the sake of clearness.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of Fig. 1 and shows also means for actuating the apparatus.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing also the path of the material to be treated.

Fig. 4 shows the apparatus applied to the treatment continuously with their production of dry-spun filaments or threads, e. g. of cellulose acetate or other .derivatives of cellulose; and

Fig.5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but illustrating a modification.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, 1 is a trough containing size or other dressing 2. Journalled in the end-plates 3 of the trough 1 is a drum or roller 4, parts of whose circumferences dips into the dressing 2, as is clearly shown in Fig. 3, and the drum is provided with circumferential webs or bands 5 of absorbent material, which act as wicks and become charged with the dressing 2. One end of the spindle 6 of the drum 4 is extended to receive a ratchet-wheel 7 by means of which the drum can be rotated. An arm 8 is loosely mounted on the spindle 6 in a position adjacent to the ratchet-wheel 7 a split pin 9 retaining the arm in position on the spindle. A pawl 10 is pivoted on the arm 8 and engages the ratchet-wheel 7, so that when the arm 8 is oscillated, the drum 4 is intermittently rotated.

In the form shown in the figures, the trough 1 is formed as a saddle, the bottom of'the trough being upwardly bent at 11 so as to take over a pipe 12. This forms a convenient arrangement for heating the dressing to be applied, e. g. for melting waxes which at normal temperatures are solid, and the pipe 12 may also serve as a supporting means for the trough.

In operation the trough 1 is so disposed with respect to the filaments, yarns, or threads to be treated, that the moving threads 13 make a suitable arc of contact with the wicks 5, and so receive a dressing or coating of the substance absorbed by the wicks. By reason of the intermittent rotation of the drum 4 new parts of each wick 5 are brought intermittently into position to contact with the threads, and the whole wick is rotated slowly through the bath of size or other dressing.

If desired, suitable tension maybe imparted to the threads during their passage over the wicks. For instance, the threads may be passed through a thread guide or under or round a smooth bar 14 before and/or after they reach the wicks.

Fig. 4 shows the drum or roller 4 arranged to apply a coating or dressing to filaments 13 which have been produced by the dry-spinning or evaporative method in a spinning cell or chamber 15, the trough 1 being located between a feed-roller 16, which receives the filaments on their emergence from the cell or chamber 15, and a guide 17 from which the filaments proceed to a capspinning device indicated generally at 18.

The movement of the ratchet arm 8 is conveniently derived from the rail 19 which imparts the traversing motion to the cap-spinning device. As shown in Fig. 4, a rod 20 is carried by the rail 19 and at its upper end is provided with a 110 shoulder or projection 21 which engages the arm 8. The ratchet-wheel 7 is thus rotated intermittently as the rail 19 rises and falls.

When the traversing motion of the cap-spinning device is obtained by cam or similar means driven 115 by a rotating shaft, the arm 8 may be actuated by cam or similar gearing from this shaft, or, as shown in Fig. 5, the drum 4, may be directly driven by gearing from the shaft. In Fig. 5, a traversingmotion shaft 22 drives by means of gearing 23 a 120 shaft 24 supported in bearings 25 on the machine frame 26. The drum 4 is driven from the shaft 24 by means of gearing 27.

Instead of the filaments, yarns, or threads passing under or through the tensioning device 14, they may proceed directly from the roller 16 t0 the drum 4 as indicated at 130.

The length of the trough 1 and drum 4 'may be such as to enable a number of filaments, yarns 0r threads to be coated or dressed simultaneously, such an arrangement being particularly useful for the treatment of the plurality of bundles of filaments produced from the spinning nozzles of a dry-spinning metier. A separate band, web or wick 5 may be employed in connection with each 135 bundle of filaments to be treated, or, as shown on the left-hand side of Fig. 1, the drum 4 may be completely covered with absorbent material 50.

The temperature of the bath 2 may be controlled by means of a valve 28 which regulates the flow of steam, hot water, or other heating medium through the pipe 12.

In addition to heating the bath of size or other dressing a heating medium may be passed into or through the drum 4. Thus the drum may be provided with doll-head bearings, or it may be provided with a hollow spindle through which a pipe passes, the bearings or the pipe being connected to a supply of heating fluid.

In the annexed claims the term filaments is 150 so'astochangethepartottheabsorbent material adapted to make contact with the filaments.

2. Apparatus for the application of warm material to travelling filaments, said apparatus comprising a container for the waxy material, heatin means for the container, a movable supporting member carrying a wick roundits circumference and adapted to dip into the molten waxy material, and means including a ratchet and pawl for intermittently moving said supporting member so as to change the part of the absorbent material making contact with the filaments.

, WILLIAM IVAN TAYLOR. 

